The nuclear apocalypse came and went a long time ago. Unfortunately, the world is still dealing with the fallout. In the midst of the scramble for survival, one courier gets a fateful assignment that ends with an epic journey.

Recommended Age

Minimum Age

Available On...

18 (21 for PC)

16 (18 for PC)

PC, Xbox 360, PS3

Overall Fun

Length

Frustration

Violence

Sexuality

Substances

Gambling

8

10

4

10

6

7

4

Mods

Religion

Anti-Law

Community

Sports

Magic

Miscellaneous

10

2

8

0

0

0

9

1. Gameplay

Overall Fun - 8

Fallout: New Vegas takes place in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear weaponry and the fallout that results from use of nuclear weapons. The entire landscape has changed. Those humans that managed to survive are either physically or psychologically mutated by the collapse of civilization. The world is now a dangerous place where only the strong survive.

...by running away.

Those familiar with the Fallout series know the scale of these games. There is a lot to do here and a wide variety of ways to accomplish tasks. The player will get to choose their ultimate goal, but inevitably it will be obtaining power for one of the three (technically four) parties that are vying for control over New Vegas and the surrounding territory.

This is one of those parties.

There is no one “best” way to take control, nor one “best” party to work for. The game rewards players for approaching tasks in whatever way they see fit. If the player wishes to help the local population fight off greedy, blood-thirsty bandits that is definitely possible. If the player instead wants to help the bandits (and reap the rewards of the plunder), that is also possible. Different choices will lead to different outcomes.

One of the best aspects of this game is the new “reputation” system, which will determine which groups will view the player as an ally and which will view the player as an opponent. For example, actions that help the “Powder Gangers”, a band of escaped criminals, will result in a negative reputation with the nearby townspeople. While some types of enemies (such as the random creatures found throughout the wasteland) will treat the player as hostile no matter what the player’s actions are, there are many groups of enemies that will help or attack the player based on the player’s actions. The groups that I will fight may be entirely different than the groups that another player fights.

Friends to me, enemies to others.

That’s not to say that this game didn’t have its downsides. Money is in extremely short supply, so the player must ration ammunition, health, and anti-radiation medicine. Even on the easiest difficulty levels this game is not a walk in the park. But, then again, it’s designed to highlight the potential dangers of living in a post-apocalyptic environment. Other downsides are discussed in detail in the “Frustration Factor” section below.

There’s a reason that the Fallout series is quite possibly the most popular non-fantasy RPG series ever created. Fallout: New Vegas makes each player’s experience unique. There’s no need to try and understand the courier’s personality or his motivations, the player is the courier. If the player wants to be the last, best hope for humanity then that’s how the game will inevitably conclude. If the player wants to be terror incarnate, then that’s how the game will end instead. The possibilities are practically endless.

Length - 10

This game is absurdly long (in a good way). I spent 47 hours playing this game and missed a ton of content. There are technically four different endings, but the player’s actions change the way that the epilogue plays out. There are hundreds of missions, quests, and sub-plots that the player will be able to find and complete.

Think of it this way: Imagine you are Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars universe. Now imagine yourself not only destroying the Death Star (twice), but also completing hundreds of other tasks for the dozens of rebel bases throughout the galaxy. Oh and give yourself the ability to take up Darth Vader’s offer and help the empire destroy the rebellion. Also give yourself the option to say “eff this” and destroy both the empire and rebellion and take over for yourself. That’s a small taste of what New Vegas offers.

In case that still doesn’t put it in perspective, let me make one more attempt. The game offers in-game achievements that the player can get. Fallout: New Vegas has 75 possible achievements (challenges) that the player can obtain throughout the game. I only managed to complete 21 in my 47 hours of gameplay. Using some simple mathematical calculations, assuming that the other achievements would take me the same amount of time to complete as the first 21, I would have to play this game for around 150 hours in order to complete every achievement.

So yeah, this game should be long enough for any gamer.

Frustration Factor - 4

The most frustrating thing in this game by far was the weight limit. It was very difficult to deal with the fact that there was a certain amount of stuff I could carry. In the spirit of disclosure, I played the game with “hardcore mode” on, which meant that in addition to carrying around armor, weaponry, health packs, and all of the other items necessary for life in the wasteland, I had to carry around many items that were necessary for normal life. I had to keep enough food and water to ensure that I didn’t die of starvation or dehydration.

Like I said, I chose to have “hardcore mode” on, which made things much more difficult. But even without the extra weight for food and water, there was very little room to carry any items that could be used to trade for ammunition, better armor, or repairs.

The item “condition” is something that has been included since some of the earliest Fallout games, but it can still get a bit frustrating. As an item (weapons and armor) is used, it gradually wears down. If it wears down too much, the weapon can jam and, eventually, break. Weapons can be repaired with other similar weapons or by someone who is qualified to repair them. Unfortunately, this can be an extremely costly endeavor and considering how rare any real supply of money is, this can result in some rather useless weapons at the worst possible moment.

2. Parental Notices

Violence - 10

This game ranks fairly high on the “violence spectrum”. While the player will frequently find himself in non-combat travel or conversations, the vast majority of the game time will be spent fighting a unbelievable assortment of enemies.

Combat will typically involve the player using some sort of projectile weapon or firearm to attack the enemy combatants. Single shots (as well as hits with a melee weapon) will result in a small amount of blood coming from the target.

I look like Flash Gordon.

However, it is extremely common that, upon death, part of the enemy’s body will be blown off in a bloody, gore-filled, chunky mess.

I don't think decapitation works quite like that.

This happens frequently in combat, especially when the player targets a single body part repeatedly. For example, headshots from a powerful weapon or repeated hits to the head from a less powerful weapon will almost always result in an explosion of brains, eyes, and skull.

Hey look! Brains!

Explosions, since they frequently hit the ground around and below enemies, will commonly result in blown-off legs.

This is like one of those action movie shots!

Whenever bandits, gangsters, or other “criminal scum” are located are frequently decorated with dead and dismembered bodies. It’s meant to add to the sinister feeling and overall toughness of the gang that put them up. Still, it’s pretty gross.

One out of four limbs is acceptable, but I'm afraid I will have to deduct points for the lack of a head.

Caesar’s Legion also has a habit of posting dismembered heads on spikes for all to see.

That can't be sanitary.

There is a perk that the player can choose called “Bloody Mess”. In addition to increasing the amount of damage that the player deals, any kills that the player gets have the high probability of causing the enemy to explode in a shower of blood, chunks, and dismembered body parts. Frequently, the only thing that remains is a bloody torso.

Sexuality - 6

Previously, the Fallout games seemed relatively devoid of sexuality. There were some ladies “nightwear” that could be considered a bit risqué, but other than that sexuality was never really an issue. That changed dramatically with New Vegas. As Sin City devolved into the shell of its former glory, those “sinful” elements have mutated.

I think her hair has mutated as well.

There are a number of prostitutes on the sidewalk of the strip “advertising” their wares. The player is unable to hire any of these ladies of the night, but in many cases the “clothing” that they are wearing might as well not exist.

Why bother wearing clothes at all?

The player can hire some men and women within the casinos. These prostitutes do not discriminate based on gender, so homosexuality is evidently not only accepted but seen as nothing to even mention. If a player hires one of these prostitutes, the lady (or man) takes the player to a designated room, then invites the player to come lay on the bed with them. The screen fades to black and rather loud sex noises can be heard. The game then fades back in and the prostitute gets up and acts as if nothing happened.

There is an entire casino dedicated to the sin of sexuality. This casino, called Gomorrah, has advertisements in various locations in the Wasteland that somewhat subtly imply sexuality. It’s the kind of thing that a younger child would not understand, but any adult who is able to understand even basic euphemisms would catch onto.

Don't ask what happened to Sodom.

In one mission, the player is hired to find prostitutes for clientele with particular “appetites”. There are specific types of people the player is told to find, but for the most part the fetishes that the prostitutes are supposed to fulfill aren’t as much depraved as they are just strange. For example, evidently at least one client wants to have sex with a ghoul who is dressed as a cowboy.

And no, she is not wearing a bikini.

The only real exception is the sex robot that the player is told to find. The robot, nicknamed “Fisto”, can be found in an abandoned robot factory. When the player finds and reactivates the bot, the player can “test it out”. If the player chooses to do so, the screen will go black and the whirring of a drill can be heard. When the screen fades back in, Fisto will tell the player that the numbness that is experienced is normal.

Substances - 7

Substances play a substantial role in New Vegas. It is almost impossible to go through the game without using some sort of narcotic-like substance. Some of the more common substances are relatively benign. Stimpaks are used to heal the player, Radaway is used to reduce the player’s radiation levels, and Rad-X reduces the amount of radiation that the player absorbs from radioactive material. I consider these to be “Tier 1” narcotics, since their use results in a great benefit and they have little to no risk of addiction (more on that in a bit).

The other category, what I call “Tier 2” narcotics, give some benefit but at the risk of addiction. If the player uses too much of a Tier 2 drug, the player will almost certainly become addicted to that drug. Serious negative consequences can arise as a result of addiction, but the specific nature of the consequences depends on the type of addiction. For example, addiction to alcohol will decrease a player’s agility and charisma, while addiction to Buffout will reduce a player’s endurance and strength.

That is getting nowhere near my veins.

The addictiveness of substances will also vary. I have found that Mentats, which can be used to temporarily raise a player’s intelligence, are not very addictive. However, the drug known as “Jet”, which seems like an equivalent to Heroin, is extremely addictive. The chance of addiction stacks with use. This means that while a player has a relatively low chance of becoming addicted to Jet with one use, the odds of addiction increase dramatically with each subsequent use.

I believe that Jet is the small needle. But why is there a cane in the bathtub?

The player does have the ability to create new narcotics and other substances by means of a “campfire”, which allows the player to mix substances found in the wasteland and form new items. Sometimes these can be completely benign, such as healing powder or stimpaks. However, players with a high enough “survival” and “medicine” skills can create a small handful of the “chems” available in the game.

While this may seem like New Vegas is, in some ways, encouraging drug use, I found this to be just the opposite. The narcotics in New Vegas do give some benefit, but the consequences of abuse of the narcotics far outweigh the benefits of narcotics use. As a result, I played throughout the entire game and only used any form of narcotic once. I had no trouble accomplishing the tasks required of me without any sort of attribute boost from drugs. I believe that most players will have a similar experience with the narcotics included in the game.

Aside from the narcotics, there are a number of other more mundane substances found throughout the game. Alcohol can be found, traded, and consumed any time throughout the game.

Do cigarettes have an expiration date?

Cigarette use is also somewhat common in the game. One of the game’s main characters, a robot named Victor, is depicted as something like the Marlboro Man. The odd thing was that I never even noticed the cigarette in his mouth until I was going through the screenshots (well after I had finished the game). I only ever saw Victor’s face as that of a cowboy with a hat.

This game doesn't end well for him either. Can robots get cancer?

Gambling - 4

Gambling does play a role in this game. However, considering the game takes place in and around “New Vegas”, this should be unsurprising. There are a small handful of casinos on The Strip, each of which have a small variety of gambling games that the player can attempt. The player can play blackjack, roulette, or the slot machines.

If I call it the One-Armed Bandit, can I have it arrested?

However, I avoided these games in favor of a new game called Caravan. It’s an interesting card game with some very complex rules, but it doesn’t take long to learn. It’s also an excellent way to make a decent amount of money, especially if the player understands the way that New Vegas was programmed.

Even in a fantasy world this is not a good source of income.

3. Other Factors

Mods - 10

Those who are familiar with the titles released by Bethesda know that modding tools are made readily available so that the community can make tweaks and improvements. It gives gamers an opportunity to make their gaming experience much more personalized than the developers could ever hope to achieve.

This was made with a simple mod that retextures the sky. [Links to Mod]

There is a virtual cornucopia of mods available for this game. The player can add anything from new weapons and clothing to create an entirely new game with new campaigns, enemies, and allies. Some of the mods are astoundingly awesome.

However, as with many other moddable games, there are a number of mods that significantly increase the mature elements in this game. The vast majority of these are “body mods”, which change the look or shape of a character’s body and skin. These mods can not only make both male and female characters appear completely naked (complete with genitals), but can resize body parts. For example, there are a good number of mods that allow the player to modify the cup size of female characters’ breasts. This includes anything from completely flat chested to a full H-cup and more.

We're asking the same question. [Links to Mod]

The more extreme adult mods include prostitution with fully animated sexual acts. One particularly popular prostitution mod allows the player to perform oral, vaginal, and anal sex acts on other characters (and to have said acts performed on him/her). It’s virtual pornography.

The blur isn't included in the actual mod. [Links to Mod]

But before you go off-the-handle and write this game off as a source of corruption and debauchery, you must understand that these mods cannot be included without the player actively downloading and installing the files. The modding site that I use is tightly regulated and anyone who is not registered with the site and of age cannot download any mature content.

Even if they decide to do so, there is very little reason to download the more “mature” mods. Anyone above the age of 16 would likely see that these mods are only meant to add a bit of titillation to the game and, if anything, take away from the overall experience. Instead of being enthralled with the storyline and enraptured by the personalities and motivations of the characters, the gaming experience is lost in a sea of naked bodies and virtual copulation.

Religion - 2

For the most part, New Vegas is devoid of religion or religious references. There is one notable exception. The player can find a cult of ghouls that are attempting to make “The Great Journey”. It turns out that these Ghouls believe that they are destined to explore and colonize other worlds and have been working to repair a few rocket ships in order to get them on their way. The player can choose to help these ghouls accomplish their pilgrimage.

This makes me think of either Attack of the Martians or Capricorn One. I don't see OJ though.

Anti-Law - 8

Fallout: New Vegas is included in a relatively small group of games that not only allow the player to approach problems in a wide variety of ways but also frequently reward the player equally for doing the “evil” thing instead of the “good” thing. For example, at the beginning of the game the player wakes up in a small town that is under threat by a local group of thugs. Most games would have the player rally the townspeople and help them defend against the small group of quickly approaching hostiles.

That is indeed one of the options the player has available. However, the player is just as able to go to the thugs and negotiate the terms by which the player helps take the town for the thugs instead. If this is done, the player gains favor with the thugs and loses favor with the townspeople. The opposite is true if the player helps the townspeople.

The Jackal Gang probably doesn't like me now.

These types of choices are available all throughout New Vegas. While they vary in scope and magnitude, the reality is that the sum of these choices will determine which groups the player is aligned with and, eventually, who the player will side with for the grand finale. The player can easily choose to side with local and regional law enforcement or just as easily choose to fight against one or both groups.

Online Community - 0

There is no multiplayer content in this game.

Extreme Sports - 0

Extreme sports are not a factor in this game.

Magic - 0

Magic is not a factor in this game.

Miscellaneous - 9

Cannibalism

In one of the casinos on the strip the player stumbles upon an underground cult that secretly practices cannibalism. The cult has made it a practice of abducting some of the healthier patrons and eating them. When the player finds out about this, he has the options of either helping the cult or destroying it.

The player also has the ability to become a cannibal. He can choose the “cannibal” perk which will allow him to eat human flesh in order to regain health. The act, however, is not seen as publicly decent and thus “good” characters will instantly attack the player.

There are a few other examples of cannibalism hidden throughout the game, but these were the two most obvious ones.

Prostitution / Pimping

As mentioned previously in the “Sexuality” section, prostitution is present throughout New Vegas and in the surrounding wasteland. While the majority of prostitutes cannot be interacted with, there are a select few that the player can hire for their services. The player will also have the opportunity to complete optional missions that require the player to recruit new “talent” for specific clientele. The player does not directly receive funds for the pimping actions, although all of the prostitutes seemed to have some person or organization that acted as the “pimp”.

How much?

Surgical Implants

The player has the ability to choose a type of surgical implant that will give the player an attribute boost. The player simply chooses the attribute that he wants to increase and the implant is given. However, only one implant can be put in the player and the decision is permanent. There is no visual action of the process, the doctor simply says “there, it’s done” and the player sees an immediate attribute change.

Interrogation

There is one mission that the player has the option of completing where he must interrogate a Legion Centurion in order to extract information for the NCR. If the player is skilled enough in persuasion (or a few other random skills), he can obtain the information entirely through conversation. However, if this is not possible (or if the player simply chooses not to try and persuade the Centurion), the player can progressively beat the information out of the Centurion.

Where were you on the night of the 24th?

Human Disfigurement

The high levels of radiation on earth affected the people of the world in different ways. While most survivors remained relatively unaffected, a decent number have turned into what people call “ghouls”. The ghouls are normal humans except that they are horribly disfigured by their exposure to radiation. The player will encounter many ghouls, most of whom are warm and friendly people.

Unfortunately, the radiation exposure means that the ghouls’ higher brain function eventually stops working correctly. The ghouls begin to go “feral”, eventually becoming little more than mindless zombies that attack anything that comes near them (except other ghouls).

One of the vaults also had a problem with a parasitic plant. The plant eventually got into the air system and infected the inhabitants of the vault. The plant eventually consumed the inhabitants and turned them into weird plant beings that vaguely resemble the human form.

Igor 2.0

Execution

The game opens with the player watching, in first person, as he is executed by one of the game’s many antagonists. This serves as a start for the player’s journey throughout the wasteland around New Vegas.

I like the enthusiasm from guy on the right.

Executions do occur throughout the game, but most of these are uncommon and frequently easy to miss. The lone exception is the crucifixions that the player will find whenever Legion forces are in the area. Caesar’s Legion frequently crucifies anyone it deems unlawful. This includes a good portion of the population in one town.

Slavery

The Legion, one of the factions that the player can join, is well known for its practice of slavery. Many of the people it conquers, assuming the people aren’t killed, are taken as slaves. The player can encounter a number of these slaves within the Legion camp.

The slave is the one on the left.

It is also mentioned that female captives are often either forced into prostitution or, if they are lucky, are forced to marry one of the officers in the Legion. However, I never actually found any examples of these types of slaves within the Legion camp.

Explosive Collar

In order to keep the player from escaping and informing the wasteland of the location of the Brotherhood of Steel, the player is forced to wear an explosive collar. If the player leaves a designated area, the collar will explode and instantly kill the player.

Vault 11

One location in New Vegas, named Vault 11, is a somewhat unique and confusing case. After the vault doors were sealed, preventing anyone from escaping, the citizens of the vault were told that the vault’s computers would require a human sacrifice each year or else the computer would kill all of the citizens in the vault. To make a long story short, the citizens of the vault elected an “overseer”, and at the end of a one-year term the overseer would become the human sacrifice.

Then you get to watch this video!

This led to an extremely corrupt system in which groups of vault dwellers would bribe and coerce each other into voting for one particularly disliked person to become overseer. A woman found out that her husband was going to be voted overseer by the largest group of citizens (the group had a slim majority in the vault, but enough to vote in whoever they wanted). One of the group’s members told the woman that her husband would be safe if she performed sexual favors. She agreed, but her husband was put on the ballot anyway. In her desperation, she killed a few of the group’s members denying them a majority and, ultimately, forcing herself to be elected overseer.

I had to read it to believe it.

This resulted in a civil war that killed all but five of the vault dwellers. These five refused to elect an overseer. After the time for the sacrifice had come and gone, the computer informed the survivors that the situation had simply been a test of humanity’s resolve (which they had passed in refusing to give up a sacrifice) and that no harm would come to the vault dwellers.

Upon realizing that the computer had never intended to kill any vault dwellers, at least four of the remaining survivors committed suicide. The player finds their skeletons near the entrance to the vault.